It is no secret the Yankees know how to build a bullpen.
Last season marked the fourth in a row in which the Yankees’ bullpen ERA was at least the sixth best among MLB teams. In each of those years, the Yankees’ relievers recorded a cumulative ERA of 3.62 or lower.
Much of that success stems from the Yankees’ ability to identify promising arms in other organizations and turn them into productive major leaguers. Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loáisiga are only a few examples.
Clayton Beeter could be next.
Asked recently about under-the-radar internal options for the Yankees’ 2025 bullpen, manager Aaron Boone specifically named Beeter.
“He’s one guy that we’re excited about that we feel like could potentially carve out a significant role,” Boone said at the Winter Meetings in Dallas.
The Yankees acquired the right-handed Beeter, 26, in the August 2022 trade that sent struggling slugger Joey Gallo to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Beeter has mostly operated as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, starting 83 of his 92 career appearances, but he flashed as a reliever down the stretch last season.
In five relief appearances with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in September, Beeter hurled seven scoreless innings and struck out 12.
MLB Pipeline ranks Beeter as the Yankees’ No. 19 prospect, down four spots from last year.
“Beeter was so dominant at Texas Tech during the shortened 2020 season that some scouts believed he had the best stuff of any college starter in the Draft,” reads MLB Pipeline’s scouting report.
“While Beeter’s stuff cooled off a bit in 2023, he still can show flashes of three plus pitches. His best offering is an 82-86 mph slider with two-plane depth that hitters can’t barrel or lay off, and he now favors it heavily over a 78-82 mph curveball with similar shape that he can’t land for strikes.”
The scouting report also referenced a mid-90s fastball “with more carry up in the zone than true life” that “can get tagged when he doesn’t command it.”
Originally a second-round pick by the Dodgers, Beeter made his MLB debut with the Yankees in March. He ended up making three relief appearances in the majors — including two in September — and allowed three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings.
Beeter boasts 428 strikeouts in 300 innings in the minors.
Should he make the Yankees’ roster, Beeter would add a power arm to a bullpen that just lost the sinker-balling Holmes to the Mets in free agency but that added All-Star closer Devin Williams in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Yankees also re-signed Loáisiga, who missed most of last season after undergoing elbow surgery, and are set to bring back Weaver and fellow right-handed relievers Ian Hamilton, Jake Cousins, Scott Effross and Mark Leiter Jr.
“There’s always others that emerge,” Boone said. “There will probably be non-roster guys that you bring in that our group maybe has identified as somebody. I think we’ve had a pretty good track record of that. I’m sure there will be a couple guys that show up in spring training that we don’t even know about yet that could end up playing an important role for us.”